Residents of Morpeth in Northumberland are set to enjoy significantly reduced congestion through the town following the construction of a brand new bypass which opened to traffic yesterday.

 

The £30M Morpeth Northern Bypass is a new 3.8km single carriageway road linking the A1 with the A197 to the north of Newcastle.

 

Delivered by main contractor Carillion for Northumberland County Council, the bypass is also expected to boost regional economic growth, unlock land for development and cut travel times between the A1 and the south east of the county.

 

“The benefits of this project will be felt for generations to come,” commented Carillion project director Dave Bennett. “From concept to completion, building the bypass has been a challenging but fantastic experience for everyone involved.”

 

The team faced a number of significant challenges on site during the construction project including delays to the programme as a result of major flooding in late 2015.

 

Northumberland County Council’s project manager Gary Mills told TP Weekly News: “There was a period when Storm Desmond hit when we were forced to halt our earthworks activity. You could hardly walk on site, let alone put a machine on it,” he added.

 

In total the scheme has seen 310,000m³ of soil moved and 34,000t of asphalt laid, in addition to various ecological works. Several new structures have also been built including a grade separated junction where the link road meets the A1 (pictured).